Resting-state activity and functional connectivity of insula and postcentral gyrus related to psychological resilience in female depressed patients: A preliminary study

Abstract

Background: Psychological resilience is a protective factor of depression. However, the neuroimaging characteristics of the relationship between psychological resilience and brain imaging in depression are not very clear. Our objectives were to explore the brain functional imaging characteristics of different levels of resilience in female patients with depression.

Methods: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was performed on 58 female depressed patients. According to the resilience score, participants were divided into three groups: Low resilience (Low-res), Medium resilience (Med-res) and High resilience (High-res). We compared the differences in the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and functional connectivity (FC) among the three groups and correlated psychological resilience with ALFF and FC.

Results: According to ALFF, there was a higher activation in RI and RPG in the High-res compared with Med-res and Low-res, but no significant differences between Med-res and Low-res. The FC between the RPG and supramarginal gyrus (SG) in the High-res was significantly stronger than that in the Med-res and the Low-res, and the FC of the Med-res is stronger than that of the Low-res. Both ALFF and FC were positively correlated with the score of resilience.

Limitations: The sample size of this study was relatively small and it lacked healthy controls. The results of this study could be considered preliminary.

Conclusions: Among female patients with depression, patients with higher psychological resilience had higher resting state activation in the RI and RPG and had a stronger interaction between the RPG and the SG.

Keywords: Female depression; Insula; Postcentral gyrus; Psychological resilience; rs-fMRI.